The sunlight got caught in the bracelet, causing little balls of light to dance around the table around Marinette. Her cheek was pressed against the cool counter as she watched the light flicker through each different color.

    It was roughly two weeks after Weyelen’s play. The morning air outside was crisp and there wasn’t a cloud for miles. The last time she glanced at the clock it was seven-thirty. It was earlier then she tended to wake up, but she couldn’t help the ball of nerves that sat in her stomach.

  Last night, she had encountered Adrien. And the memory kept repeating in her head.

------- Last Night------

    “Oh come on Mari,” Alya whined. She swayed dangerously on her feet as she attempted to make her way to the bluennette. “Come home with me.”

   The music pumped from the door they just exited. The sun was setting on a rather warm day, and the stars were already peaking out. Marinette felt warm and fuzzy on the inside. She was known for being able to hold her alcohol and was anything but a lightweight. 

   “Nooo, go back to Nino, I wanna go to sleeeep.” Marinette giggled. Alya pouted but way from her. 

    “Fine.” The brunette playfully stomped away. But not without turning around and blowing a kiss.

   Marinette rolled hers and didn’t bother to fight the smile. Tikki floated above Marinette’s shoulder and was thinking very hard.

     The bluentette wanted to say something that would break the silence, but she couldn’t bring herself to think enough to do so. She just continued humming as she made her way down the street. 

  The walk to her place was a long one, to say the least. She duly noted that she should check out driving classes later to get her license. It has never occurred to her before that driving would be a need, especially since most of the places she wanted to go were within walking distance. And what wasn’t close by could be reached with a taxi.

    “Marinette?” The single word sliced through the air and shocked the bluenette. Her head shot up and she locked eyes with familiar green.

   “Adrien?” His name slipped off her lips. She had that same feeling in her chest as when you listen to an old song you used to love. It felt suffocating and the déjà vu kicked in.

   Adrien gave her an awkward smile and rubbed the back of his neck. They stared at each other, both contemplating what the next move should be. The blonde sighed and wrung out his hands.

    “Please, let me walk you to your apartment. I just want to talk, I promise. I’ll never speak to you again after this if you want.” 

   Marinette felt like an iron hand gripped around her throat. Despite really really really not wanting to speak with him, she nodded her head. She had heard Adrien was better now, almost back to his old self. But she couldn’t help the knot at the pit of her stomach.

    Adrien shoved his hands into his pockets when they began to slowly make their way to her place. It felt like a crawl. Did walking normally take this long?

    “What I did was wrong.” Adrien was the first to break the silence. Marinette couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. “I know that, and I feel so god-damned stupid for how it went down. And I’m not going to make up excuses, I was being a dumb ass. I’m not even going to ask you to come back.”

       The blonde took a deep breath, only to calm himself down she could assume. The knot in her stomach tightened at his words. Wasn’t this a bit late? Even after his last apology?

    “I just… I want… I don’t know what I want.” He admitted sheepishly. “You were such a big part of my life. I was with my high school sweetheart, the love of my life. But I messed up. And I don’t expect for you to forgive me or even for you to want to be my friend.”

      Did she want to remain friends with him? She didn’t know. He was right, the relationship they had was amazing. Excluding the end, they always had fun and got along great. But would it be that easy to put everything that happened between them to rest?

    “I was hoping you would understand, I will always care for you. I don’t mean to guilt-trip you with this. Even when you move on, and get married, and have kids, I want to still be there for you. You’re the Ladybug to my Chat Noir. My partner in crime. And I promise you, we don’t have to be anything more than partners fighting against Hawk Moth.” 

     Adrien’s words hung in the air. Marinette struggled with them. He was the Chat Noir to her Ladybug, the comic relief to her seriousness. Starting just there wouldn’t be the worst. When they were in their hero form, their civilian lives didn’t matter. It didn’t matter who started what or who broke up with who, all that mattered was that they protected everyone they could.

    “What happened was a lot,” Marinette admitted, rubbing her arm despite the humid air. “And I think we can both agree we made some stupid mistakes. You’re right, you did do something pretty stupid. But despite that, you did still take care of me. When you were just as emotionally put out as me, you still made sure that I ate. You focused on helping me before yourself. That’s what I loved about you.”

       She paused and looked up to see his face. Adrien looked up the same time as her, and their eyes met again. But it wasn’t intense like it was last time. It was familiar. His eyes shined and thoughts swirled behind them. He really was back.

     “I hate how we ended on such bad terms. But I think you would agree it was probably what needed to happen.” He nodded, but he couldn’t hide the spark of sadness. “What happened was both our faults. I shouldn’t have had to rely on you so much-”

   “It was your right to,” Adrien interjected. “You had every single right to need me in any way you needed.”

      “I shouldn’t have relied on you so much.” She repeated, casting her gaze away from his intense gaze. “You should have been able to go to me, not take care of me like a five-year-old. Admittedly, if either of us were in the right mind we both would have known to find help.”

      He gave a half-hearted laugh, and she cracked a weak smile.

    “You’re right. Neither of us was in the right mind.” He smiled at the ground. “I’m glad we had this talk. I think it’s exactly what I needed to move on.”

    They both stopped, and he looked up to the building. Marinette studied his face and she felt comforted. They were going to be fine. They made great partners, and working with him in the future will go a lot smoother.

     “May I?” Adrien held his hand out to her. Hesitantly, she did. He bowed his head and gently kissed the back of her hand. He released her hand at her side and looked up. “Good luck, Ladybug. I hope you feline good and I’m paw-sative that we’ll both be alright.”

    Marinette rolled her eyes and laughed. “I’m glad you're back to your old self.”

      He gave her a sly grin as he straightened his poster. She raised an eyebrow and perched a hand on her hip.

    “And if I know anything, I know for a fact that you and Luka are going somewhere.”

---- Present time -----

         It kind of felt like the world was lifted off her shoulders. Maybe it sounded dumb, but that was the talk she needed to have. Now Marinette could move on with whatever future she wanted.  It was like at that moment, the past released its icy grasp from around her and she was welcomed into the warm arms of the future.

   “Marinette?” Luka yawned from behind her. Startled, she jumped. He groaned as he pulled back the seat next to her. He reflected her posture, face pressed against the counter and both arms spread across it. His face was looking towards her, but his eyes were closed.  She laughed, and he cracked an eye open. “What?” He whispered.

   “I was thinking.” She admitted.

   “Yeah?”

    Marinette bit her bottom lip. His eyes were pulled towards the action. 

    “I really love spending time with you.”  

     Luka grinned, and she couldn’t help reflecting his happiness. She brought her hand up and ran it through his bed hair. 

     “Me too.”   

    Finally straightening up, Marinette stretched her arms above her head. Luka yawned again and stood up.

   “Mmm, I’m going to go spruce up.”

    Nodding, Marinette turned to the stove. She started to pull out pots and pans. She squinted her eyes as she tried to read the side of the pancake box. 

    That’s it, she was going to an eye doctor. Alya was right, her vision wasn’t the best.

   After a few minutes, the room was filled with the sounds of sizzles and pops. Marinette never used to be a breakfast person, but once Luka had exposed her to his “family’s super secret pancake recipe” she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

    Arms wrapped around her waist and a warm body pressed against her back. She turned her head to see Luka staring intently at the mixing bowl.

     “It looks good.” She didn’t miss his eyes narrow.

    “But?” 
   
     He huffed slightly and pressed his cheek against hers.

     “Do you have french vanilla? A dash of cinnamon as well could bring some flavor to it. And before you mix everything, don’t forget to use milk instead of water.”  Marinette pouted as she looked down at her bowl. Did she happen to miss that on the instructions? “But if you don’t like those things, those are personal preferences. I fully trust your judgment.”
   
    Oh, sweet summer child was that a mistake. If Marinette knew anything it was that she wasn’t the greatest chief. Big surprise, right?  She knew she had great baking skills, but cooking was a whole different game.

     Luka laughed and gently wrapped his slender fingers around his wrist.

    “Marinette, my love. Believe me when I say you shouldn’t do that.” She pouted and met his icy blue eyes. “Allow me.”

      He pulled away from her and stood next to her. Luka fiddled with the knobs on the stove before slipping the spatula out of her grasp.

    “You see this?” He waved towards the corners. She nodded. “When you lift a little edge you can decide if you can flip it or not. You don’t have to lift the whole thing to tell.”

     The sunlight still streamed through the windows. It seemed a little too perfect to be a coincidence that the light hit the perfect angle of his face to make the guitarist look like a shot from a romantic movie. His air shone and the tones of pink that danced across his cheeks made her heart melt.

    “When you see bubbles start to come up, that’s a good sign. But you want to make sure there aren’t too many. We don’t want to burn the pancake.” He picked up the pan and wiggled it slightly. “You could also do this to see how it moves.”

     “Are you going to flip it like a professional?” She teased, poking his side. 

     “Only if you want pancake batter on your ceiling.” 

     Quickly but precise, he got the spatula under the half-cooked pancake and flipped it. Damn, it did look good. The edges were crisp and delicate shades of gold were splayed across it.

     “I’ll get the next one going for you, but I’ll let you flip it.”  Luka found his spot behind her again and rested one hand on the counter and the other on her hip. “Try to relax a little, this isn’t the pancake flipping Olympics.”

    It was a little hard to relax and focus, especially with the way his thumb rubbed against her hip. His cool breath fanned across her neck.

       “Try it now.”

        Marinette thought she had it. She got the spatula under it like he did, but only half of the uncooked side got to reach the sizzling butter. What didn’t make it folded in on itself.

     “Where did I go wrong.”  Marinette pretends to be upset about it. He took the utensil back from her to fix the mistake.

   “Believe it or not, you have to do a few calculations. You did good, you just were a little too close to the edge. Next time, try being square in the middle.”

          A stack of way too many pancakes later, Marinette finally was able to perfectly flip a pancake. The couple stared at what they made and exchanged looks.

      “I guess it’s a great time to call Alya and her kids over.”
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           Author's Notes:
     What's up dorks? After writing this chapter, I realized I still have a few in me that I need to write. Just know this story most probably won't exceed 40 chapter. It probably won't even get to that number.

     Not much to say really. Don't forget to comment and vote, I love hearing what you have to say! So just have a great day/night and stay safe!